Culture Aplenty is social comment and awareness about all things artsy and culturally interesting in Sparkle City

At some point we stopped going to mass, the nativity scene and other decorations remained in boxes in the attic, and eventually our 6-foot Christmas tree was replaced with what my mom called, “The Most Charlie Brown-Like Tree [She] Could Find.” I say this not to lament the loss of my family’s tradition, but to point out how Christmas can mean and be many different things to different people, and it can still be Christmas.… Read More »

The historical backdrop of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl allowed Steinbeck to look closely at many sweeping social justice issues: racial segregation, a deeply misogynistic view of women, the mistreatment of the elderly, and also the ignorance of mental disability, just to name a few.… Read More »

Growing up in Spartanburg, Spartanburg Youth Theatre was a large part of my childhood. I went to see my first show, A Christmas Carol, when I was in kindergarten. A 5th grade student in my school was Tiny Tim. My small world changed! I wanted to be on stage!… Read More »

Just a few years ago, even the thought of connecting the long storied tradition of the Spartanburg Little Theatre with a production of such dubious moral character and unquestionably boundary- pushing material as The Rocky Horror Show would have raised more than a few eyebrows.… Read More »

Hughes can practically feel the excitement of the Spartanburg community rising as the creative synergy of the Upstate grows and grows. However, many people are unaware of quite how much goes on in Hub City, she says.… Read More »

Growing up, I was incredibly fortunate to be able to experience live theatre at an early age. I can still distinctly remember the first musical my parents ever took me to: the Long Beach Civic Light Opera’s production of The Sound of Music.… Read More »

About This Blog

Growing up, I was incredibly fortunate to be able to experience live theatre at an early age. I can still distinctly remember the first musical my parents ever took me to: the Long Beach Civic Light Opera’s production of The Sound of Music. We had seats in the front row of the balcony and I was so short at the time, that I either had to boost myself up on the seat or crouch down to see around the metal protective bar that was there to keep kids like me from falling down into the orchestra section. Though my memories of that particular production only exist in faint recollections of colors and lights, from that moment on I was hooked. My parents were season ticket holders for many years, and whenever they would go to a show, I would wait up until they got home, eagerly awaiting the moment that I could get my hands on the playbill. From Joanne Worley in Hello, Dolly! to Tommy Tune and Ann Reinking in Bye, Bye Birdie! (It was, after all, the 1980’s), I would spend hours and hours reading and rereading the actors’ bios and lists of songs and scenes, imagining that I one day might play the Artful Dodger or even one of the Von Trapp children.

Many of my favorite childhood experiences center around exposure or involvement in the theatre. One of my fondest memories is of watching The Music Man, starring Robert Preston and Shirley Jones, during the PBS fund drive. My whole family would gather on my parents’ bed and watch the entire movie together, which, accounting for PBS’s periodic lenthy appeals for donations, lasted at least 4 hours. Some 25 or 30 years later, I find myself directing the Spartanburg Little Theatre’s upcoming production of The Music Man and the same nostalgic affection for this incredibly delightful slice of Americana has all come flooding back.

Of course, I didn’t know then what I know now about directing and producing musical theatre. The sheer amount of time, manpower and resources required to stage a two and a half hour show is mind-numbing. Yet, for seven weeks of rehearsal, many times five or six nights a week for three hours a night, I have watched this cast of over 40 performers memorize lines, build and paint sets, sweat, laugh, test and expand their capabilities, fall and get back up again, and I have to ask myself, “Why?” Is it for the applause and recognition, or the sheer love of performing? Do they have nothing better to do or have they always dreamt of being in this show?

And the real answer is this: Putting on a show with 40 people isn’t wholly unlike gathering on your parents’ bed watching The Music Man​ with your family, or The Sound of Music in a dark theater. A breathless anticipation of what’s to come. The celebration of possibility. The appreciation of beauty and artistic expression. A collective inter-generational experience of togetherness and family. It is all of these things that make theatre, whether live or on film, so emotionally fulfilling and personally transformative.

On May 8, when the Spartanburg Little Theatre’s production of The Music Man opens at the Chapman Cultural Center, I hope to see a pair of wide young eyes, peering over the edge of the balcony, as equally mesmerized at their first musical as I was all those years ago. Maybe then I will have paid my parents’ gift forward.

—

Jay E. Coffman is the Executive Artistic Director for the Spartanburg Little Theatre. The Music Man is on stage May 8-17. For tickets, call (864) 542-2787. Join the Spartanburg Little Theatre for their upcoming 2015-2016 70th Season of Magic: Mary Poppins, Of Mice and Men, The Marvelous Wonderettes, The Dixie Swim Club and Memphis. ​Season tickets on sale now!